whos using mac mini's?

[sammytaters]

I have the last 2.5Ghz i5. Its powerful enough for most audio needs. If you are running plugin after plugin, the fan will engage. Its about as loud as a laptop fan. The rest of the time its so silent I can hear the backlight on my monitor buzzing. For its size, it packs a punch. If you are used to Core 2 then this one is much better. The version with the upgraded graphics card is worth it. Its a good deal and it transports easy. You can definitely edit audio and video on it. I think DIVA is the only program that maxed it out. It doesn't have a problem with audio tracks. The only downside is that it doesn't have optical, and maybe could use another firewire port. Lack of Blu-ray is annoying but its like that on all macs these days. Generally happy with mine, loads better than the Core 2 Duos.

[tvsky]

ive been running a quad i7 mini server since they came out

brilliant machine . running an audiofire 12 and lion its rock solid , never crashed , heaps of power , ive never even used more than 30-40% of it

only thing I would do is upgrade the internal hdds to 2x 1TB .

i am still even running the original 4gb ram . fine for most things .

[6strings]

Good to know.

Got a Mac Pro 6-core 3.33 this summer and was curious how overkill this might be for my work. However, I'm reeeeeally loving the headroom. I don't have to think twice about adding more plugs and VI as I compose and build up my projects. No worries about managing CPU or the like as my surround projects grow... No matter how much I throw at it, it stays cool and quiet.

Not so sure I could get away with all this on a mini...

Not bagging on the mini at all BTW, just saying that it sounds like there's still a place for big horsepower rigs...

[zaxmalloy]

Well, I have the new refurb mac mini in my grubby little hands. Is the easiest thing to do a fresh install of everything?

I have Time Machine backups...and since the new boy is a server thought maybe I can just trade files by using a good old fashioned Ethernet cable...but I'm thinking along the fresh install route that line given that my MBP laptop is still on Snow Leopard.

I also had Logic Express upgraded via hard disk to Logic Studio on the MBP...figure I have to do that same install on the new one anyway....

Recommendations appreciated

[Apollo Soul]

Used one for a couple of years. Wouldn't even try loading some of the heavy VI's or using multiple instances of nebula or anything like that... but for some of the more basic tracks I've done, it was more than adequate. Actually, my biggest issue with it was just hard drive space.

[zaxmalloy]

And so now I read this....

Apple to Launch New Mac Mini at Next Week's Media Event? - MacRumors Forums

so having not even taken my Mac Mini out of the box, wonder if I should send it back?

Would rather have a quad core non-server....what are the odds?

[Macky]

The link says if its coming, it will be next week. So you would still have time to return it...Yes/No

[SebCarr]

That's a tough call. The rumours often amount to nothing - but I'd hate to buy a Mac that was out of date within a couple of weeks (and yet I'm still running a Core Duo mini, 1.66GHz, 2gig ram, Duet, Logic 8, Ivory Italian, and doing fine with it - but it depends how you use these things. Many people on here would bring it to its knees before they hit a quarter of their usual track count).

[zaxmalloy]

Originally Posted by Macky

The link says if its coming, it will be next week. So you would still have time to return it...Yes/No

Have to return it by Oct 22.

Not sure if there are penalties for starting to use it then returning it.

I hate when I buy gear then almost immediately am made to feel regret...but guess that's unavoidable in an electronic/digital age...

[SebCarr]

I was under the impression Apple was very good on returns (hence the ability to purchase the refurbs on the Apple store. I understand they're often items people buy, unbox, try, decide they don't want and return).

[Macky]

Originally Posted by zaxmalloy

Have to return it by Oct 22.

Not sure if there are penalties for starting to use it then returning it.

I hate when I buy gear then almost immediately am made to feel regret...but guess that's unavoidable in an electronic/digital age...

I have always found Apple to be very amenable. Ask them.
Let them know now.

[scottwilson]

Am I the only one who is bothered by the use of apostrophes in the subject? Oof.

[Macky]

Originally Posted by scottwilson

Am I the only one who is bothered by the use of apostrophes in the subject? Oof.

I can let it go BUT using a question mark without a space really irks

[zaxmalloy]

Originally Posted by Macky

I have always found Apple to be very amenable. Ask them.
Let them know now.

Okay - they are pretty good about it. Of course their representative wouldn't comment on potential future products, but he did cancel my return request and reset it to the date I received the item, which essentially gives me more time to consider a return.

He indicated as long as I didn't break it, I could return it for any reason during the 14 day window...so I guess i should go ahead, get it out of the box and load it.

If something better gets announced within the next week, I'll just need to return it, assuming that "something" is that much better then the pretty good deal I already got.

[Macky]

Originally Posted by zaxmalloy

Okay - they are pretty good about it. Of course their representative wouldn't comment on potential future products, but he did cancel my return request and reset it to the date I received the item, which essentially gives me more time to consider a return.

He indicated as long as I didn't break it, I could return it for any reason during the 14 day window...so I guess i should go ahead, get it out of the box and load it.

If something better gets announced within the next week, I'll just need to return it, assuming that "something" is that much better then the pretty good deal I already got.

Thats Cool.


I set mine up following Apples instructions and have had no problems

How to disable Lion Server

[zaxmalloy]

Originally Posted by Macky

Thats Cool.


I set mine up following Apples instructions and have had no problems

How to disable Lion Server

Thanks for that - just printed it off.

[Macky]

The Library is hidden in Lion. Can cause problems in Pro Tools
not sure about other DAW
Easy to reveal it again


Revealing Lion’s Hidden Library Folder | Gothick.org.uk

[zaxmalloy]

Well, have to say I'm pretty disappointed but I'm not sure that disappointment is with Apple.

I got the mini server going today and it proved nothing but bothersome. Having to continually start/restart it because it would hang so often, You're unable to see both HD at once because it has it set up in some sort of RAID configuration (I think). I used Migration Assistant which really just created a mess. And Lion is a b*tch to navigate...I'm not sure at all why it's considered an upgrade because navigating it is tedious...they've set it up to act like iOS and trying to get "under the hood" (e.g.,good luck finding your 'Application Support' folder) is needlessly difficult. Got so furious with it tonight I did my best to undo the migration...but am afraid to erase the disc becasue they don't give you an OS disc any longer....

I'm going to sleep on it, but I think this puppy is going back to Apple. Maybe just not the right tool for me personally. Figure I'll wait for a quad core mini that's not a server...

[Dpro]

Originally Posted by zaxmalloy

Well, have to say I'm pretty disappointed but I'm not sure that disappointment is with Apple.

I got the mini server going today and it proved nothing but bothersome. Having to continually start/restart it because it would hang so often, You're unable to see both HD at once because it has it set up in some sort of RAID configuration (I think). I used Migration Assistant which really just created a mess. And Lion is a b*tch to navigate...I'm not sure at all why it's considered an upgrade because navigating it is tedious...they've set it up to act like iOS and trying to get "under the hood" (e.g.,good luck finding your 'Application Support' folder) is needlessly difficult. Got so furious with it tonight I did my best to undo the migration...but am afraid to erase the disc becasue they don't give you an OS disc any longer....

I'm going to sleep on it, but I think this puppy is going back to Apple. Maybe just not the right tool for me personally. Figure I'll wait for a quad core mini that's not a server...

Ya Migration assistant does not transfer everything. I think you would have been better off using Carbon Copy Cloner.

Perhaps what you should have done is pull take one of the drives and install SL with Carbon Copy Cloner and your current setup. Then removed the drive with Lion on it forcing the machine to boot off Snow Leopard. At that point you could wipe the Lion server drive.

[tvsky]

Originally Posted by zaxmalloy

Well, have to say I'm pretty disappointed but I'm not sure that disappointment is with Apple.

I got the mini server going today and it proved nothing but bothersome. Having to continually start/restart it because it would hang so often, You're unable to see both HD at once because it has it set up in some sort of RAID configuration (I think). I used Migration Assistant which really just created a mess. And Lion is a b*tch to navigate...I'm not sure at all why it's considered an upgrade because navigating it is tedious...they've set it up to act like iOS and trying to get "under the hood" (e.g.,good luck finding your 'Application Support' folder) is needlessly difficult. Got so furious with it tonight I did my best to undo the migration...but am afraid to erase the disc becasue they don't give you an OS disc any longer....

I'm going to sleep on it, but I think this puppy is going back to Apple. Maybe just not the right tool for me personally. Figure I'll wait for a quad core mini that's not a server...

you have done something very wrong . perhaps reformat , start from scratch . my MMS has never hung once in the last year of owning it . there is no difference to the server and the non server apart from the server apps , just remove/disable them

[zaxmalloy]

OKAY...THE POST IS DID BELOW SIGNIFIED A HUGE FRUSTRATION ON MY END...AND AFTER READING IT I DECIDED I JUST WHINED TOO MUCH...I AM TRYING A FEW THINGS TODAY AND WILL UPDATE IT IF I CAN OVERCOME THE OBSTACLES>>>

Originally Posted by tvsky

you have done something very wrong . perhaps reformat , start from scratch . my MMS has never hung once in the last year of owning it . there is no difference to the server and the non server apart from the server apps , just remove/disable them

Not sure what I could have done wrong but could all be PEBKAC. Figure I'm a better geek than that given that I've built my own custom PCs in the past but maybe not this time.

It shouldn't take a computer 20 minutes and three restarts to just connect to bluetooth keyboard and a trackpad. I shouldn't transfer 220 gb of files and have it explode out to 406gb (geez, the drive it's coming from is only 250gb...WTF...)?? It won't let me delete user accounts....

Also I don't understand why I can't see the drives separately in Finder: it doesn't even give me an option to provision the drives separately, which besides the quad core power was the entire point of buying this particular unit.

And don't even get me started on Logic. Starting that up led to Midi errors that the new computer and/or I could not resolve...

Would love to start from scratch, but I don't really see a way to do that without an OS disc (and from my research it appears you can't just install a different, pre-Lion OS and expect it to work.)

I guess at the end of the day, I have to ask myself even then if I'm trying to use a screwdriver as a hammer. I mean I'm trying to make a machine do something it wasn't built to do...and maybe if I as more adept at making these changes that would be one thing...

[tvsky]

https://discussions.apple.com/thread...art=0&tstart=0

here is the reformat procedure , it will download the clean o/s from the internet . back up your data

personally I never do a migration or upgrade o/s install on any platform , always a totally fresh o/s and resintall all apps

[Dpro]

here is several different ways to Install Snow Leopard, some work fine some had a few bugs. Read it there are several that work fine.

Snow Leopard on Mac Mini 2011? - Mac Mini Mid 2011 - iFixit

[zaxmalloy]

Thanks for all the advice.

I spent the entire day with it and think I've got it sorted.

After deleting everything I did yesterday, spent the majority of the day deleting all but the Admin user, changing the view in finder so I could see both disks, then doing most of my transfers using the target disk method.

Now I have a lot of updating to do. I haven;t really seen the performance gain I was expecting but I haven't had a lot of time to compare. Using Diva in my Core Duo MBP and doing the same on my Mac Mini, the CPU usage looked about the same....so I'm confused about that, but I haven't had any time to look at it except on the surface.

Installing Kontakt now, then KU8 (couldn't fit either on my old cpu) so I'll update the thread tomorrow with what I hope will be progress.

[Dpro]

Originally Posted by zaxmalloy

Thanks for all the advice.

I spent the entire day with it and think I've got it sorted.

After deleting everything I did yesterday, spent the majority of the day deleting all but the Admin user, changing the view in finder so I could see both disks, then doing most of my transfers using the target disk method.

Now I have a lot of updating to do. I haven;t really seen the performance gain I was expecting but I haven't had a lot of time to compare. Using Diva in my Core Duo MBP and doing the same on my Mac Mini, the CPU usage looked about the same....so I'm confused about that, but I haven't had any time to look at it except on the surface.

Installing Kontakt now, then KU8 (couldn't fit either on my old cpu) so I'll update the thread tomorrow with what I hope will be progress.

Good to hear man, I am glad you got it sorted. I am sure you will wind up seeing a speed difference between it and and your Core Duo.

[zaxmalloy]

Well, I finally have it all in one piece I think. Not the easiest thing I've ever done. I had purchased Kontakt 5 on a deal a few months ago, then Komplete 8 Ultimate but had never been able to install them on my old machine and after some trial and tribulation, have both in place now on the new system.

I thought the multi core implementation would give me more power than it has though, I still notice VI like Diva or Poly KB nearly run it out in just a single instance...maybe this is something about the way Logic utilizes Multi Core? Perhaps dial back latency to 512?

While that's not quite where I thought it would be, I must say the Native Instruments stuff is excellent...from someone that's just used the player versions of stuff, the full versions are most rewarding and relatively easy on CPU. I think it might take me along time to even just get through all that the NI suite...and that's really why I got the Mac Mini...instead of buying a pile of hardware, my hopes were to build a good ITB system and I think it's good to go on that score and will do the job well. The only niggling issue is I can't seem to wake it on LAN using my wireless keyboard and trackpad...so for now I've just adjusted the power settings...

In either case, I think I'm out of excuses now as to why I "couldn't" execute the music I wanted...and that's the point. I sense my GAS is still going to be intense...

[divine source]

the new MacMini with 2.3GHz quad-core i7 (BTO 2.6GHz quad-core i7) looks really interesting, i wonder if its still possible to have 2 HDDs inside, coz the MMS offering this configuration...

if so, i think i found myself a winner - MacMini 2.6GHz quad-core i7, 16GB and SSD\HDD combo

[Silky Smoove]

I just ordered a middle tier model seeing as how quad core i7 was available outside of the server model.

OWC RAM and an SSD will be coming soon as well. I'll keep everyone up to date on performance.

It looks like the same case, so a second internal drive should be possible.

[Gammon2004]

I've been incredibly happy with my Mac Mini Server with two 1TB hard drives and a Thunderbolt display. It's generally very quiet, and it's been rock solid reliable for the past year since I bought it. It has lots of horsepower, but if I'm running something with 90+ tracks and lots of VIs, I do have to set the hardware buffer to 1024 samples in Pro Tools. So I'm going to buy the new version of the server as soon as possible and migrate everything over after I finish next week's projects. I briefly ran a Hackintosh last year with an i7 2600 and it was blazingly fast, and it looks like the 2.6ghz i7 option specs out at about the same speed on the CPU benchmarks. I'm excited to give it a try.

[cyjanopan]

Originally Posted by Macky

I can let it go BUT using a question mark without a space really irks

You know it's the proper way of using it?